Cork extractor



July 21, 1959 J. B. PEREZ coax ExTRAcToR Filed March 12. -1'958 INVENTOR @/oeyzbkfez United States Paten-t O CORK EXTRACTOR Jose Brito Perez, Havana, Cuba Application March 12, 1958, Serial No. 720,994

1 Claim. (Cl. 81-3.34)

This invention relates to cork extractors and particularly t an improved extractor capable of removing corks from the interior of bottles when they have been inadvertently driven into the bottles.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a cork extractor capable of insertion into a bottle, having an extremely small diameter neck, and which is then expandible within the bottle to permit entrance of the cork floating within the bottle between arms on the extractor for clamping therebetween and withdrawal.

'It is a further object to provide a cork extractor having elongated, narrow, tweezerlike resilient arms of unequal length for entry into bottles having small necks, the arms being joined at one end, curved away from each other centrally of their length and then toward each other and terminated in inturned outer ends, which nest during entry into the bottle and which are capable of supporting or grasping such corks as elude grasp of the arms intermediate their length.

Yet another object is to provide a cork extractor of the character described in which the inner faces of the resilient arms are provided with projecting teeth for biting into and clamping the cork and in which at least one of the inturned outer arm ends is also provided with gripping projections for the same purpose.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claim. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specic embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several ligures and in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a cork extractor according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the extractor shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the extractor partially inserted in a small necked bottle shown in cross section, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the inner face of one of the extractor arms.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown one embodiment of the invention constructed of a cylindrical handle in which is molded or otherwise secured the shank 12 of a tweezerlike implement having opposed, resilient arms 14 and 16. The handle 10 may be formed of bone, metal, wood or other suitable material, and is illustrated as being a transparent plastic material molded about the shank 12 on which are fixed radial projections 18 to provide a more rm securement. The handle 10 is provided with one or more annular grooves 1.1 in its outer surface to improve the nger grip thereon.

The cork grasping implement may be formed of any '2,895,357 Patented July 21, 1959 lCC suitable resilient material such as spring steel, the shank 12 being split into the arms 14 and 16 at a point spaced from handle 10. If desired, the arms may be formed separately and joined, as by welding, into asingle shank. Each of arms 14 and 16 is preferably of narrow width to permit entry into small necked bottles. Each arm is arcuately formed curving toward each other at its shank and outer ends and away from each other centrally of its length.

The arm 14 at its outer end is formed with an angled end portion 20 bent toward the arm 16. The outer end of arm 16 is bent into a U-shaped portion 22 so that the end edge is turned toward and faces the handle 10. Serrations or teeth 24 are formed in this end edge to grip a cork which may slide down between and fail to be gripped by the arms 14 and 16. Arm 14 is slightly longer than arm 16, permitting the U-bent end portion 22 to nest within the angled end portion 20 when the arms are squeezed toward each other, thus reducing the space required by the implement for entry into a bottle.

The inner, opposed faces of the arms 14 and 16 are provided with a plurality of projecting teeth 26 which, preferably, are equally spaced on each arm but are not coincident with those of the other arm when the arms are squeezed together (see Fig. 3). The teeth 26 may be formed in any suitable manner as by striking the metal to project from the arms or by forming the projections and securing them individually to the arms.

To remove the corks or other objects from a bottle, the arms are compressed sufficiently to insert the ends 20 and 22 into the neck. The handle 10* is then pushed toward the bottle until the shank 12 seats in the bottle neck. Fig. 3 illustrates an intermediate position in which the wall of the bottle neck has squeezed the arms 14 and 16 into parallel relation. When the shank ends of the arms 14 and 16 reach the neck of the bottle, the arms, because of their arcuate shape, spread apart to their initial positions shown in Fig. 2, or to the limit permitted by the size of the bottle. This provides space between the arms for the floating cork into which the cork may be manipulated by shaking the bottle slightly. The handle 10 is then retracted during which motion the neck of the bottle squeezes the arms together to grip the cork so that it will be extracted from the bottle.

If the bottle has been emptied of its contents prior to removal of the cork, the extractor may be inserted in the manner described, and the bottle then inverted so that the cork or other object falls between the extractor arms near the bottle neck. The extractor may then be withdrawn from the bottle to effect the gripping and removal of the cork.

Although a certain specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof are possible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claim.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A cork extractor comprising a handle, a pair of elongated resilient arms formed of strap members joined at one end, said joined end being secured to the handle, one of said arms being longer than the other, said arms being curved away from each other centrally of their length and toward each other at their outer ends opposite the joined ends, said longer arm having its outer end angled toward the shorter arm, and the end of the shorter arm being turned first toward the longer arm and then inwardly toward the handle, the inner faces of said resilient arms being provided with sharp projections normal to the axisof the arnas and offset from each other References Cited in the le of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain` Great Britain Mar. 7, Sweden May 10, Switzerland Feb. 7, Italy July 12, Germany Feb. 15, 

